Feelings of the Cat
by Pokemon Ranger-Trainer
Summary: Happy becomes ashamed of a few odd outbursts he has in front of Carla. He feels that any chance he had of her having romantic interest in him went down the drain. How does Carla really see Happy? Rated T for Gray's...habitual tendencies. My first Fairy Tail story. Please forgive any chronological errors.


**Well, I've been doing a lot of one-shots lately. Recently, meaning about a week ago, I've gotten very into Fairy Tail. Thus far, I've seen about forty episodes or so. Then, I managed to find and watch episodes 53, 83, 84, and a few others online and plan to watch more. This is my first Fairy Tail story. Forgive me if there are any chronological, emotional, or technical errors. I'm going to end the author's note at that. Enjoy!**

_Happy's POV…_

Well, I supposed I could see why Lucy stole my shtick. Now that I thought about it, I think Virgo did, too. They had good reason. I was young and didn't think much about love. Lucy was just fun to tease because a lot of her male spirits were attracted to her in some way. Well, not Grandpa Crux. That would be kind of creepy. Then, I fell for a beautiful kitten with fur as white and pure as the driven snow. Her name was Carla. And guess what! She finally started calling me by my name! She's been friendlier and warmer around others ever since that little visit to our origins. We learned why we weren't your average house cat. We were members of a winged feline race called the Exceeds. I was actually supposed to betray my best friend, Natsu, and Carla was supposed to betray her friend, Wendy. It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster.

It was a sunny day in Magnolia. I hovered into the guild hall when I happened to catch Carla talking to some other girls out of the corner of my eye. I wondered what she was talking about. I became so distracted by her conversation, along with her beauty, that I accidently flew right into the job board. All eyes were on me, including Master Makarov's.

"Happy!" I heard Mira gasp.

"Are you okay, little buddy?" Natsu asked me with concern.

"Aye, just fine," I replied dizzily. To tell the truth, I had been in the guild hall earlier that day, but I had left to go shopping. What was I buying? Well, here's a hint. It's an important part of my diet. Aye, it was fish!

"Geez, you're acting like Cana after a few drinks," Gray remarked. "Or a few barrels."

"My system can handle it just fine, thank you very much!" Cana snapped at him. "Gray, your clothes!"

"I'm wearing boxers!" Gray argued as he received uneasy and uncomfortable gazes from the other guild members. Don't get me wrong, most of us were used to it. The only ones who wouldn't be were rookies. Wait a minute…AAH! Gray was naked in front of my precious Carla!

"Put your clothes on!" I panicked, grabbed Gray's stray pants, and pulled them over his head.

"Happy, what the heck has gotten into you?!" Gray struggled. Finally, he got me off of him and put his pants on the right way. Personally, I kind of liked them on his head. "Have you been eating bad sushi again?"

"Aye, but that's not the point! There are ladies in here, Gray!" I replied defiantly.

"Hey, guys, let's try not to have another hall-wrecking fight, okay? Please?" Lucy asked nicely. When she wanted to, she could be almost as scary as Erza. I guess she didn't want to.

"Hey, Happy, not that I'm going to side with Gray or anything," I felt Natsu pick me up by my waist, "but it's kind of odd that you suddenly care what the girls think."

"Well, uh, I, um," I stuttered. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't just scream to the world that I love Carla. Although, if there were only one fish left in existence and I had it, I'd give it to her after throwing a watermelon at my temptation to eat it myself.

"As sweet as that sounds, that is not physically possible," Virgo informed me.

"Ah! When did you get here? And how did you know what I was thinking?" I demanded.

"The princess summoned me. Master Makarov requested my assistance in repairing recent damages to the guild hall," Virgo informed me. "Also, I have been practicing reading faces."

"Isn't she great? Smart, strong, and loyal! Virgo's an awesome celestial spirit!" Lucy asked excitedly. Yeah, a creepy mind-reading macho maid. Great…

"Thank you, princess, I aim to please," Virgo bowed politely and passed through her gate.

Suddenly, with flying into the board, the thing with Gray's pants, and my frightened outburst with Virgo, I realized that I had been making a fool of myself. Worst of all, Carla saw _everything_. She'd never like a fool like me. Besides, among the Exceeds, she was from a more sophisticated class.

I sprouted my wings and took off. Natsu called after me, "Happy, wait!"

"Where are you going? Come back!" Lucy begged.

"I need to be alone!" I glanced back at them and shouted. During my glance, I had caught a glimpse of Carla's face. What was she thinking? What was she feeling? My glance was too quick. I couldn't fly straight and try to read her at the same time. So, I flew.

I flew to a small river and sat on the riverbank next to a bridge. Gray had told me that he had found Erza come here when they were little. She had coped about her past here. I sat down and gazed at what I could of my reflection in the flowing water. My vision had become clouded. Great. Tears. I let them out. There was nowhere else for the tears to go. Thinking about crying like that made crying even more depressing. I made a complete moron of myself in front of Carla. She would never like me now. My ears perked up the instant I heard a familiar voice say, "Happy?"

I whirled around to find Carla standing before me in a cute pink dress. She looked adorable. How did I look to her? I gasped, "Carla…"

"Are you okay?" she asked with concern. She was worried about me?

"Aye," I blushed, lied, and turned away. She came closer and sat down next to me.

"Something's bothering you," she pointed out.

"Aye…" I acknowledged that she was right.

"Will you please tell me?" Carla asked politely. I could hear the concern in her voice.

"Why do you care? I thought you wouldn't want to be seen with a fool like me," I remarked, my voice filled with melancholy.

"You're imagining these problems," she said bluntly. I was taken aback. My eyes suddenly met hers. Then, she continued, "I don't think you're a fool. I think you're sweet, kind, caring, brave, and most of all, funny."

"You thought everything I did back at the guild was…funny?" I asked her, wanting to make sure I had my facts straight. Carla nodded and smiled. Her smile, as adorable as it was, was a rarity for her. I considered it to be a special treat whenever I saw it. "Didn't you used to hate me?"

"Happy, to be honest, I wanted nothing to do with boys. Then, in Extalia, I saw how brave, kindhearted, and sweet you were. When we learned about our mission, you did not just defy a few guards. You gave me hope. You made me feel like my own cat when we were practically just told we were puppets," Carla explained. "Whether the mission was real or not, I would have…I would have…"

"C-Carla?" I called out softly to her. Absentmindedly, my arms extended towards her in case she needed a hug.

"I would have felt discarded, like my whole life was a lie," Carla fell into my arms and wrapped her own around my body. "No one knew what my mother's real motives were." A felt a wet spot on my shoulder. A tear. One of Carla's tears. "You've made me feel differently about all of this. About life itself."

"Wow…" I said aloud. Her words were deep. _I_ made her feel this way.

"So, your name's Happy? Well, you make me feel that way," she informed me. My blush deepened. We stood up together. She suggested, "Why don't we head back to the guild?"

"Aye!" I complied happily. We both started flying back towards the guild. When we were nearly there, I remembered something. "I have a gift for you!"

"A gift?" Carla looked at me, interested.

"Here," I handed a nice, big, juicy fish as we flew.

"Oh, wow! Thank you, Happy!" she smiled at me and graciously accepted the fish. It felt so good to hear her say my name. Sometimes, I wished that I could record her saying it and play it over and over again. Because we weren't looking where we were going, we both hit the job board.

"Carla!" I heard Wendy shout Carla's name.

"Happy!" Natsu called out my name.

"Not again…" Erza muttered.

Carla and I just looked at each other and laughed.


End file.
